Innate and discretionary accruals quality and corporate governance

This paper extends previous research on the association between corporate governance mechanisms and accruals quality. We derive measures of the discretionary and innate components of accruals quality and regress them against corporate governance characteristics. For discretionary accruals, we find use of a Big 4 audit firm and a larger audit committee as the primary governance mechanisms associated with higher accruals quality. For innate accruals quality, we find that higher quality is associated with an independent board of directors, a larger, more independent and more active audit committee, and use of a Big 4 audit firm. Our findings suggest a stronger relation between sound governance mechanisms and innate accruals quality than discretionary accruals quality.Full Tex

Arts participation, mental well-being and social inclusion: Mixed methods evaluation of an Open Arts studio for people with mental health needs

Participatory arts projects are thought to increase mental well-being and social inclusion for people with mental health difficulties. This article presents a one-year evaluation of the Open Arts studio at Hadleigh Old Fire Station (HOFS) in Essex, England, established to provide opportunities for mental health service users to carry out art-making independently with professional support. The evaluation was a mixed-methods design, with qualitative and quantitative strands. A total of 23 studio members completed measures of mental well-being and social inclusion at baseline and follow-up, and scores increased significantly over time. Members’ comments indicated increased social support, confidence, motivation and mental well-being, in addition to decreased social isolation. Despite small sample sizes, this evaluation provides promising evidence of gains in mental well-being and social inclusion. The question of longer-term benefits beyond the studio placement remains to be addressed, but results add further support to the use of participatory arts in promoting mental health and well-being

Arts participation, mental well-being and social inclusion: Mixed methods evaluation of an Open Arts studio for people with mental health needs

Participatory arts projects are thought to increase mental well-being and social inclusion for people with mental health difficulties. This article presents a one-year evaluation of the Open Arts studio at Hadleigh Old Fire Station (HOFS) in Essex, England, established to provide opportunities for mental health service users to carry out art-making independently with professional support. The evaluation was a mixed-methods design, with qualitative and quantitative strands. A total of 23 studio members completed measures of mental well-being and social inclusion at baseline and follow-up, and scores increased significantly over time. Members’ comments indicated increased social support, confidence, motivation and mental well-being, in addition to decreased social isolation. Despite small sample sizes, this evaluation provides promising evidence of gains in mental well-being and social inclusion. The question of longer-term benefits beyond the studio placement remains to be addressed, but results add further support to the use of participatory arts in promoting mental health and well-being

SE-SURG Activity Report 2008-2013

The report provides an overview of the research projects completed by the South Essex Service User Research Group between January 2008 and July 2013. Summaries of each project cover study dates, funding source, aims, methods, work carried out, response rate, results, dissemination and impact

Human Movement Variability and Aging

An optimal level of variability enables us to interact adaptively and safely to a continuously changing environment, where often our movements must be adjusted in a matter of milliseconds. A large body of research exists that demonstrates natural variability in healthy gait (along with variability in other, healthy biological signals such as heart rate) and a loss of this variability in aging and injury, as well as in a variety of neurodegenerative and physiological disorders. We submit that this field of research is now in pressing need of an innovative “next step” that goes beyond the many descriptive studies that characterize levels of variability in various patient populations. We need to devise novel therapies that will harness the existing knowledge on biological variability and create new possibilities for those in the grip of disease. We also propose that the nature of the specific physiological limitation present in the neuromuscular apparatus may be less important in the physiological complexity framework than the control mechanisms adopted by the older individual in the coordination of the available degrees of freedom. The theoretical underpinnings of this framework suggest that interventions designed to restore healthy system dynamics may optimize functional improvements in older adults. We submit that interventions based on the restoration of optimal variability and movement complexity could potentially be applied across a range of diseases or dysfunctions as it addresses the adaptability and coordination of available degrees of freedom, regardless of the internal constraints of the individual

Step activity and stride-to-stride fluctuations are negatively correlated in individuals with transtibial amputation

Background Variability occurs naturally from stride to stride in healthy gait. It has been shown that individuals with lower limb loss have significantly increased stride-to-stride fluctuations during walking. This is considered indicative of movement disorganization and is associated with less healthy movement. Given that lower limb prosthesis users perform on average less physical activity than able bodied individuals, the purpose of this study was to determine whether increased fluctuations also correspond to a reduced level of activity in daily life. Methods Twenty-two transtibial amputees wore an activity monitor (Actigraph, Pensacola, FL, USA) for 3 weeks. Lower limb kinematics during treadmill walking were measured using a 12-camera motion capture system. The largest Lyapunov exponent (λ) was calculated bilaterally at the ankle, knee and hip to quantify the stride-to-stride fluctuations of the lower limb joints. Pearson correlations were used to identify the relationships between the average daily step count over the 3 week collection period and λ. Findings Significant, moderate negative correlations between daily step count and λ were found at the intact ankle (r = 0.57, P = 0.005), and the knee on the affected side (r = 0.44, P = 0.038). No such correlation was found at any other lower limb joint. Interpretation The negative correlation evident at these two joints demonstrates that increased stride-to-stride fluctuations are related to decreased activity levels, however it remains unclear whether these changes in the stride-to-stride fluctuations promote decreased activity or whether less active individuals do not gain sufficient motor learning experience to achieve a skilled movement

Assessing quantitative modelling practices, metamodelling, and capability confidence of biology undergraduate students

Quantitative modelling plays an important role as biology increasingly deals with big data sets, relies on modelling to understand system dynamics, makes predictions about impacts of changes, and revises our understanding of system interactions. An assessment of quantitative modelling in biology was administered to students (n = 612) in undergraduate biology courses at two universities to provide a picture of student ability in quantitative reasoning within biology and to determine how capable those students felt about this ability. A Rasch analysis was used to construct linear measures and provide validity evidence for the assessment and to examine item statistics on the same scale as student ability measures. Students overall had greater ability in quantitative literacy than in quantitative interpretation of models or modelling. There was no effect of class standing (Freshmen, Sophomore, etc.) on student performance. The assessment showed that students who participated felt confidence in their ability to quantitatively model biological phenomena, even while their performance on ability questions were low. Collectively modelling practices were correlated with students’ metamodelling knowledge and not correlated with students’ modelling capability confidence. Biology instructors who incorporate the process of modelling into their courses may see improved abilities of students to perform on quantitative modelling tasks